Projects

Regional Ecosystem Accounting

This project (Regional Ecosystem Accounting Project) funded by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is implementing ecosystem SEEA-EA compliant ecosystem accounting for a number of regions across Australia (Murray-Darling Basin, SW WA agricultural zone, Flinders and Gilbert Catchments in QLD).

Farm-scale biodiversity assessment

Through linked projects with Meat and Livestock Australia (CN2030) and Australian Wool innovation (BENEFITs), we are demonstrating biodiversity accounting (past-present) and planning at the farm scale, associated with a pathway toward carbon neutrality.

Corporate biodiversity accounting

We are working with large companies such as BHP to develop and apply corporate biodiversity accounting approaches, linking with emerging initiatives, including the taskforce on nature-related financial disclosures (TNFD).

COMPLETED PROJECTS

LOOC-B biodiversity calculator

Our team developed a new biodiversity assessment tool; LOOC-B (Landscape Options and Opportunities Calculator – for Biodiversity). Focused on estimating and monitoring the likely benefits of carbon-farming actions, at paddock scale, anywhere in Australia.

Habitat Condition Assessment System (HCAS)

hcas1 This project funded by the Australian Federal Department of the Environment and Energy combined remote sensing information with community-level modelling techniques to map habitat condition at fine resolution across the Australian continent. This project built on an earlier project modelling habitat condition, now published here in Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Pilbara Subterranean Diversity Modelling

pilbara_subfauna This project, funded collaboratively by BHPBIO and CSIRO, developed new macroecological modelling approaches to overcome common challenges in understanding current patterns in invertebrate diversity (e.g. variable taxonomic resolution, small sampling size). These new techniques to deal with cryptic fauna were applied to advance our knowledge of biodiversity patterns for subterranean fauna (troglofauna and stygofauna) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function at Macroecological Scales

hugh_geb This project, funded strategically by CSIRO, explored a macroecological perspective on the role of biological diversity in maintaining ecosystem functions and services under climate change. This project supported two PhD students working with the team (Hugh Burley and James McCarthy) who undertook continental and regional modelling analyses assessing the potential role of biodiversity across large spatial scales in supporting ecosystem functioning.

Global Biodiversity Modelling

global_landuse This strategic project funded by CSIRO modelled current and future biodiversity across the globe at fine resolution (1 km). New modelling and analysis infrastructure (called BILBI) was developed and applied to model community-level patterns in compositional change for all the world’s vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants. These models have been coupled with down-scaled landuse layers generated by the team (and published here in Ecology and Evolution) to undertake a range of global and regional biodiversity assessments (see BILBI_Global_Applications).

Genetic Basis for Adaptation to Climate Change (GBACC)

gbacc This project, funded by the Science Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF) investigated the degree to which incorporating genetic adaptation into biodiversity models changes both our understanding of likely outcomes and the management approaches identified as most appropriate for retaining biodiversity into the future. This was a collaborative project with other CSIRO researchers, as well as scientists from The University of Melbourne, and Monash University. This research is currently in the process of being published.

Biodiversity Accounting & Future Scenarios Analysis – Peru

peru This project, funded collaboratively with Conservation International, applied ecosystem values assessment and accounting in Peru, based on models of community compositional turnover for vertebrates, invertebrates and plants.

AdaptNRM – Implications for Biodiversity

adaptnrm This project, funded by Australia’s Federal Department of the Environment, was a national initiative aiming to support Natural Resource Management (NRM) groups in updating their NRM plans to include climate adaptation planning. The team contributed to the component assessing implications of climate change for biodiversity across Australia, with the outcomes published here.

Mapping Biodiversity Significance in the Pilbara Bioregion

pilbara_biodiversity This project, funded by BHPBIO, assessed spatial patterns in the distribution of biodiversity, and associated levels of biodiversity significance, across the Pilbara Bioregion. Generalised Dissimilarity Modelling and associated spatial analyses were applied to model and map community compositional turnover and areas of significance for biodiversity.

Climate Change Refugia for Biodiversity across Australia

refugia This project, funded by Australia’s National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) applied continental models of community compositional turnover to assess areas of potential climate change refugia for Australia’s biota. The outcomes of this project are published here.

Complex Dispersal and Climate Change Outcomes for Plant Diversity in the Australian Wet Tropics

This project, funded by the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF), in collaboration with researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, developed and applied new macroecological modelling approaches to incorporate complex frugivore-mediated dispersal processes into projections of outcomes for Australia’s wet tropical forests under climate change.

The Implications of Climate Change for Australia’s National Reserve System

Aus_Map1 This project, funded by Australia’s Federal Government, assessed the implications of climate change for Australia’s national reserve system. These analyses applied continental models of community compositional turnover for a range of taxonomic groups, and new spatiotemporal analysis techniques. The outcomes of this research are published here.